Jeremiah Creosote
Jeremiah Creosote (born 4th June 1966), known professionally as Mr Creosote, is an English musician, businessman, writer, activist and multimedia personality. He rose to fame as the frontman of the rock band Creosote from 1982 - 1997, continuing as a solo artist after the band's dissolution. His eccentric personality and large size have made him an iconic figure in popular culture, and he remains a controversial figure in the UK. His best known music is generally recognised as being the records released with his band Creosote in the 1980s, particularly their self titled debut and sophomore effort There's Still More, both of which were met with large commercial and critical success. The band's breakup saw band mates George Hudson and Howard Taft depart simultaneously in 1997 after long standing personal and creative differences within the trio, largely between Mr Creosote and the other two. While the initial breakup appeared amicable, a fierce and public feud erupted between Mr Creosote and his former band mates after they formed their own band The Railway Kings, resulting in competing albums and diss tracks from both bands in 2003. He was widely considered to have lost this feud after his disastrously received album ''Eggs On Top'' in 2003, and became a figure of increasing criticism and ridicule within the music industry. After a muted 2005 acoustic album, Creosote announced a "big break" from music, before the collapse of Creosote Inc. forced him into bankruptcy in 2010, further marginalising him to the public. In the wake of his time in rehab that same year he, announced he was "reformed" and intended to "return to music shortly". This led to the release of Forgiveness in 2012, which received mixed to positive reviews, somewhat rehabilitating his image. Early Life (1966 - 1982) Mr Creosote was born Jeremiah Fallon Creosote on the 4th June 1966, an only child, and son of businessman and hereditary peer Fallon Creosote. After his parents divorce in 1974 Jeremiah and his mother moved to the affluent Manchester suburb of Altrincham, where he attended a local primary school. His teachers remarked on his high intelligence while singling him out as one of the schools worst trouble makers, once almost expelled for sending a paper aeroplane sailing into the headteacher's face during morning assembly. In 1977 as Creosote began studying at Altrincham Grammar School For Boys, he came across The Sex Pistols album Never Mind the Bollocks and became engrossed in punk music. At age 12 he purchased an electric bass and began playing along with his favorite tracks, and wrote his first song at the age of 14. In 1981 he began performing live in various local punk bands, cobbling together his own musical projects with whoever he could find, until a show around this period caused him to run into guitarist George Hudson and drummer Howard Taft, who were also trying to form a band. In 1982 the trio first performed as "Mr Creosote and his friends", with Jeremiah as the clear frontman and principal songwriter. Creosote (Band) Mr Creosote and his Friends (1982 - 1986) In their initial phase, the band struggled to find a definitive sound, sitting somewhere between traditional punk and new wave. This made them initially difficult to advertise in local venues and the members were seriously considering abandoning the project altogether due to the lack of gigs. However, by 1983 they had managed to attract some attention in the Manchester scene and had improved enough on their instruments to secure more dates. This era of the band was characterized by highly experimental use of synths and drum machines to create some dance-like backdrops to their songs which otherwise resembled more traditional punk. In 1984 the band recorded an EP, which the members regarded as a disappointment, as their live sound was poorly captured and they could see how their strict adherence to the punk ethic was doing a disservice to their instrumental and songwriting talents, particularly those of George Hudson. Following this the band made an effort to change musical direction, more openly courting the sounds of popular music and traditional rock. This sound was quickly honed and defined the band's 1980s style. The band continued gain popularity with their new sound over the next two years, until they opened for The Smiths in 1986 and were subsequently signed to EMI after record personnel witnessed the performance and spoke with Jeremiah Creosote backstage. "Golden Era" (1986 - 1991) After signing with EMI the band released their first album Creosote to instantaneous commercial and critical success. All of its singles took top 5 positions in the charts and the following European Tour was wildly successful. A North American Tour somewhat muted the band's spirits, with poor attendance figures and unenthusiastic performances. It was during this period Mr Creosote began drinking heavily to deal with the poor situation. Shortly after the conclusion of the 1986 tour it became apparent the band was actually in a large amount of debt due to Creosote's mishandling of the band's books, which had primarily failed to account for the debut album's failure to meet projected sales in the US. "He had evidently just glanced at the projected figures, not the actual ones, and gone "ah dabble", and continued with his apparently studious pen strokes in the tables, but it meant just like that a loss of around half a million quid just wasn't accounted for.", Taft would later reflect. This led to the band's rapid recording of their sophomore LP, 'There's Still More'. Despite the recording process being plagued by argument and conflict between the band members, it far exceeded its predecessor, with all of its singles going to number #1 in the UK. Hiatus (1991 - 1995) A Reunion and Breakup (1995 - 1997) breah Solo Career Christmas EP (1999) As soon as The Railway Kings formed in 1998 Creosote declared he would also be launching a solo career with "a new record in good time", he began recording for this record only a few weeks after, though progress was immensely slow and erratic. Finally the "Halloween Sessions" of October 1998 yielded a handful of songs, soon after discarded, however they eventually made it on to his solo debut Eggs on Top in 2003. More songs were written in December, with Creosote claiming to have written the single "Mary Belle Rouge" on his living room grand piano on Christmas day morning. The release of The Railway Kings' first album in 1999 caused Creosote to hastily assemble his own record for a release in the same year, working around the clock to churn out enough tracks. Despite this, he still couldn't gather enough material for full length album, and his impatience at the progress of the project, as well as seeing the attention being given the The Railway Kings, forced him to cut it short. Studio-perfectionism further delayed release into December, and Creosote decided to "put it off until Christmas", thus "5 Minutes With Mr Creosote" was released on the 24th December as a "Christmas gift for the kids". The EP received very mixed reviews, with a particularly unfavourable response from the NME's Herbert Dinkleferger, who had traditionally championed Creosote in the face of criticism. Fall from Grace (2003 - 2010) D Revival and Comeback (2012 - present) Railway Kings Feud (2002 - 2006) In the summer of 2002 George Hudson openly criticised Creosote for the first time following a particularly poorly sourced hit-piece in Creosote's "All Music UK" magazine that week, in which alleged insiders made claims about The Railway Kings. The article was particularly acrimonious in its descriptions of band members from its "unidentified sources", talking about heavy drug use and alluding to irresponsible sexual activities. Rumours about Hudson's promiscuity were said to be contributing to his marriage problems at the time, heightening his anger at Creosote's blatant hand in the matter. Hudson stated that from then on "nothing was off-limits", and that he wanted to see Creosote "fully shown-up for the fraud he is". Taft added to the flare up by publicly mocking Creosote's disastrous bridge opening in Gorton, stating he was "not fit to open anything but a packet of crisps", which was subject to much gleeful quotation in the tabloids the following day. The embarrassment over this incident led Creosote to declare "all out war", in The Sun, promising his upcoming full length studio album would "put their's to shame", and condemning Taft as a "big bully who dis-respects the hard work of Manchester construction lads", contradicting completely the hand Creosote's elaborate celebrations had played in causing the bridge's structural failure. Political Activism Creosote has been involved in politics throughout his professional career, he was famously critical of the Thatcher government during the 1980s, joining Red Wedge for various shows in the run up to the 1987 election. He was heavily critical of the process of privatization, and took part in a debate at The University of York in 1990 on the subject, arguing strongly in favor of nationalized industry. One excerpt from his speech read: "It is very much time for us to admit this programme has not been in the British public's interests. The right honorable MP here gave us the same old talking points fed to us this last decade, that this will clear away the state bureaucracy and give us efficiency. But this is not the case. What you have done my good sir, is replace a benign state bureaucracy with a malevolent private bureaucracy! Have you no shame! *microphone drowned out by cheers* Justice for the miners!"*cut off by moderator* Many at the time were genuinely surprised to hear such clarity and seriousness from the fun loving rockstar. Creosote went on to write a series of articles reflecting on the Thatcher years in the wake of her resignation that same year. He continued to criticise the Major government as "hopeless" into the 90s, spurred on by the ascension of Tony Blair to Labour Leader. He described Blair as being left wing "enough for me" while still being "proper", many noted his degree of eloquence when discussing political matters had declined steeply, and he struggled to find as many radio spots and newspaper columns to voice his opinions in as a result. This led to the creation of the short lived "Rabble Rousahs' Radio" illegally broadcast on AM frequencies towards the end of 1994, in which Creosote rambled about politics and brought on a variety of guests. After the election of New Labour in 1997 Creosote became inactive in politics, distracted by his new band rivalry and setting up Creosote Inc., though he later commented he first formed Euro-skeptic views in the early 2000s. Finally in 2015 he claimed in an interview to be "contented" with the majority Conservative government, as they "seemed to have things on track". When questioned further on precisely what he meant, he simply replied "Look now, I've done the politics thing I've said me bits and bobs, but now I'm older I can recognise its time to make peace with the way of things and not cause too much of a stir, its counter-productive. Focus on a small specific achievable change you want to bring about, such as my green energy initiatives in Scotland, and see it through, if everyone did that we'd have a lot less bother.". In under a year Creosote had U-turned quite dramatically on this worldview, getting caught up in the Vote Leave campaign in 2016. He was booted out of Vote Leave on March 3rd 2016 for his erratic and raucous behaviour, and rejected from joining Leave.EU for similar reasons. Not one to be set back, he set up his own campaign "Creosote Says Leave!", and belted around the country in a second hand removal van with a PA system rigged inside. He would regularly use this to interrupt actual Vote Leave press visits to towns. A reporter for the guardian recounted one such event; "As Boris dismounted his bus a spectacle occurred which was surely appalling for everyone involved, the Creosote Says Leave! van swung round into the same car park and the PA crackled. What followed were three minutes of ear splitting feedback, among which snippets of Creosote's bluster could be made out, reciting random statistics about the NHS budget. At one point he even claimed leaving the EU could give us 350 extra million for the NHS. When I interviewed a baffled Boris after, he said 'No I could barely make a word out, though I did hear the bit about the 350 million, I think this ''is ''a vital statistic and I will be adding this to our own bus here...'.". Creosote's uncoordinated fight for the leave option culminated in an appearence on Question Time on May 23rd 2016. He was placed on a panel with Nigel Farage, Dianne Abbot, Justine Greening and Russel Brand. Many noted that this was the only time Brand appeared on a political discussion and was not the on interrupting most. Creosote sat with a truly enormous pile of papers in front of him, and repeatedly whirled around in his chair to shout "Please sir now allow me to check some facts-", prompting David Dimbleby to interrupt, "Jeremiah pleeease, cease this business allow her to speak-", encouraging Creosote to flap his papers and exclaim "B-but I think the facts are important.". A comedic piece in The Telegraph the following day counted the number of times this sort of exchange took place, totalling 19 in a one hour program. Besides this, Creosote's arguments varied from reasonable and articulate defences of the leave case to truly baffling points which seemed to bare no weight or meaning. For example, particularly elongated speil about how his grandparents had originally moved from South Africa, and that it would've been easier in the EU today, though he struggled to justify why he thought this would be a bad thing when pressed, simply responding "I'm not sayin' its a bad thing, its just worth bearing in mind, these things are alwas worth thinking about the trouble is many people don't and I dislike it.". The whole episode introduced a new generation to he bizzare personality of Creosote, and it is largely attributed to his continued notoriety in the UK. Inevitably, Creosote claimed his hand had turned the tide to cause the unexpected leave vote that year, claiming at hand been "one last hurrah for me trying to improve this country politically". Creosote was criticized heavily on both sides for his conduct during the campaign, however certain major figures such as Nigel Farage claimed to sympathize with him. "Many of us may have our differences and disagreements with Mr Creosote but I think he was a vital voice in this campaign and you can not conceivably attack him for his personal efforts this last year.", said Farage in a brief comment on Radio 4 when challenged over "the sort of people" who had been drawn to the Leave campaign. Media Controversies Over the years Creosote has attracted media controversy and criticism for provocative remarks and actions, his legal and financial wrongdoings were also publicised but are a large enough to have their own section in this article. In 1988 and 1989 Mr Creosote was the only member of Creosote to publicly address the former bandmate Eric McShane, who was at the time doing a minor media circuit as the 'forgotten member' for his early gigs with Taft and Hudson. Creosote called him 'pathetic and 'a looser', and suggested he 'go back to thumping his tubs for the school band'. While some agreed with this view, others pointed out McShane was merely making use of this moderate publicity to provide for his wife and two children, and hardly seemed a person deserving of public abuse from far richer and more successful figures. In 1994 he came under heavy fire for allegedly celebrating the death of Kurt Cobain, however he claimed the £10,000 fireworks display held at his mansion in Scotland on the 10th of April was purely incidental. There were claims he had played the song "Smells like Teen Spirit", during the "carnival-like atmosphere". He had previously criticised Nirvana as "the bane of my radio, it plagues record stores and television with that dreadful noise", and added "They won't be around for long mark my words.". During his 1995 holiday to the Maldives Mr Creosote was photographed sticking two fingers up at a passing French cruise ship from his own private yacht. Later that day, he pursued the vessel in open ocean and fired flares at the ship's cabins, destroying 4 portholes and damaging at least 20. Though nobody was hurt this forced the cruise to be cut short in order to repair the damage. Creosote later evaded charges by claiming it was the result of misfired fireworks, and without substantial evidence nobody could prove otherwise. Many passengers claimed they heard Creosote yelling insults through a loudhailer at the time of the incident, and that'd at one stage entered the water and attempted to swim towards the cruise ship before giving up due to its speed. In 1999 Creosote was criticized heavily for his claims to have "come up from the rough parts" when talking about his upbringing in Manchester. Several tabloids circulated pictures of his house which he and his mother occupied from 1974 - 1985, a four bedroom suburban detached with a large drive and gardens. In response he attempted to claim the pictures were "forgeries", but withdrew the comment within a day in bizarre fashion. He continued to fabricate stories about having to occupy small flats with his mother on various estates in the late 70s, until well into the 2000s. The comedic 2003 Railway Kings' B-side "I Had it Rough (believe me)", is widely thought to be a remark on this incident, though its punching chorus is commonly used as a rallying cry against "people who glorify the whole 'slumming it' rubbish", as Hudson later put it. Legal Troubles Throughout the Creosote's career he had a reputation for bad behaviour, on and off the stage in the 80s, including run ins with the law over petty assaults and football hooliganism. This escalated into serious lawsuits in the late 90s and 2000s as his business practises were exposed. Football Hooliganism In late 1983 Mr Creosote received a police warning for "pushing bystanders" at a Manchester United game. It was revealed the people involved were not fans of a rival club but simply pedestrians. Details of the event are scant but Hudson and Taft would later claim Creosote began attending football matches simply to get into trouble, often becoming 'incredibly inebriated', and that he had shown no interest in the sport or supporting Manchester United until that year. Jeremiah would regularly wish United to lose simply to see them relegated from Division 1, so he could travel to the smaller market towns of Division 2 teams on away games and outnumber their support as they had in the 70s. A second warning was issued in 1986 followed shortly by his arrest after he allegedly attempted to plant a brick in the coat pocket of a West Ham fan in order to frame him for violence. Unknown to Creosote, his target Marcus Wheeling was a Korean War Veteran and decorated hero, leading to considerable outrage among his friends and family. The prosecution was unsuccessful but Creosote was banned from further football matches, however, a large figure in a trench coat was sighted outside the Maine Road stadium shortly before the infamous firecracker incident which interrupted an FA cup match. Driving Offences Rabbish ahm a good drivah. Police Bribery Allegations They'll nevah get meh Creosote Inc. Lawsuits Bah Assaults Ah nevah laid a hand on Bob